Ericsson forms partnerships with Audi and KPN for 5G development

Ericsson has opened two new partnerships that sees it further increase its work in the field of 5G.

The Swedish tech firm has announced a major collaboration with Audi to develop 5G in the automotive manufacturing sector while also joining up with Dutch telco KPN to explore 5G for self-driving cars and traffic safety applications.

Under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Audi, experts from both companies will run field tests in a technical centre of the “Audi Production Lab” in Gaimersheim, Germany.

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The laboratory will be equipped with Ericsson's Proof-of-Concept (PoC) network which is an open trial facility to enable early deployments of 5G technology.

"Ericsson is already running 5G industry programs all over the world to help manufacturers boost productivity and create new business opportunities," said Erik Ekudden, Group CTO at Ericsson. "The Audi project is a great opportunity to see what is possible when we bring 5G into an automobile production environment to truly enable smart wireless manufacturing."

KPN will implement the latest technologies in their commercial network for automotive purposes, as part of the wider European project Concorda, which aims to test mobile technologies for the automotive industry.

On the KPN partnership, Everth Flores, Country Manager, Netherlands, at Ericsson, added: "We are one of the leading 5G innovators in the world and a specialist within the automotive industry. KPN is a frontrunner in 5G so it is a great opportunity to combine our experiences and further explore how 5G can improve traffic safety."